Manual do Usuário: 13 years of resistance and the reinvention of writing in the AI era

Reaching 13 years on the internet is not just a milestone of longevity; in these times, it is an act of resistance. In a digital ecosystem that privileges the ephemerality of social networks and the frenetic speed of algorithms, Manual do Usuário reaches its 13th anniversary proving that the personal blog—the format many declared dead a decade ago—continues to be an essential pillar for critical reflection on technology.

A year of structural changes

The past year was, without a doubt, the most restructuring-heavy in the project's history. The strategic plan, designed exactly 12 months ago, did not just remain on paper. The most emblematic move was the emancipation of Órbita, which became an independent project at the end of July 2026. This strategic decision not only gave Órbita wings but also returned the Manual blog to its original purpose: serving as a space for authorial analysis, free from the constraints of a project that required constant curation.

Furthermore, the technical migration was a turning point. The transition to ClassicPress provided a necessary relief. In a world of bloated and heavy block editors, ClassicPress offers the lightness that those who make a living from writing need. For authors and content producers who still rely on the WordPress ecosystem, the recommendation is clear: simplicity can be the greatest differentiator for performance and focus.

All this work relied on the fundamental partnership of Renan, whose role as an informal CTO consolidated the creation of Célere, an agency focused on web hosting and site optimization, proving that the effort of maintaining a blog can be converted into valuable services for the community.

The ghost in the machine: The challenge of generative AI

Despite the operational success, the horizon is not cloud-free. The emergence and mass adoption of generative AIs—like ChatGPT—have brought a concern that goes beyond the technical: the very relevance of the open web.

The author observes a worrying movement: users are becoming so accustomed to chat interfaces that they tend to skip visiting websites. The web, as we know it, runs the risk of becoming a massive database only for model training, while human traffic dwindles.

The numbers do not lie and mirror this scenario:

• Drop in audience: Reduction in the blog's reach.
• Newsletter: Loss of active subscribers.
• Subscribers: 14.9% decrease in the base, falling from 329 to 280 active subscribers.

Financial sustainability in focus

Despite the drop in the number of subscribers, the financial landscape holds surprises. Total revenue for the period (October 2025 to September 2026) totaled R$ 79,103.16, a 4.2% growth compared to the previous cycle.

However, one must read this data with a magnifying glass. The nominal increase was driven by an external factor: the solidarity of the community in covering legal defense costs in a lawsuit filed by Folha de S.Paulo. Without this extraordinary contribution, revenue would have suffered a contraction of nearly 10%. This highlights a bare-bones truth of independent journalism: dependence on direct subscriptions is vital, but the project remains vulnerable to external shocks.

The future: Between the spreadsheet and the desire to write

The reaction to the falling numbers has been detachment. Staring fixedly at the "red sea" of performance spreadsheets is poison to the morale of any creator. However, ignoring the problem will not make it disappear.

The challenge for the next year is clear: how to convince the reader that human reflection, subjective reporting, and technology curation done by a real person are still worth more than a canned response from a chatbot?

Manual do Usuário reaches 13 years with the maturity of someone who knows that technology has changed, consumption has changed, but the need for critical reading—the kind that only well-written, authorial text offers—is eternal. Bring on the next few years, preferably with fewer lawsuits and more readers willing to explore the real web, outside the text boxes of AIs.